There are many stories about the Judge, but Lee’s account is perhaps the most factual.

Recently, the Mt. Sterling/Montgomery Co, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce recently began a new awards program called the Hall of Fame. It was designed to recognize Distinguished Citizens from "the Founding Era" (anytime before 1900), the current century, and eventually the 21^st century.  I (LH) had the honor of nominating Judge Edward Clay O'Rear .

Judge O'Rear was born in Camargo (a small crossroads town five miles south of Mt. Sterling) on 2 Feb 1863 (the fourteenth of fifteen children. He attended a small one-room log school through the third grade when his father died. Soon after, his mother moved the family to Mt. Sterling for better opportunities. Judge O'Rear eventually began working as a "news butch" selling newspapers and at about age 17 moved to West Liberty, Kentucky to work as an apprentice on the small weekly newspaper there. The paper was owned and operated by a prominent attorney there, Judge John Tom Hazelrigg. Soon, Judge O'Rear began work as the editor of the paper and also began to "read law" (as the study of the legal profession was termed then) with his employer.

Judge O'Rear was admitted to the Bar in early 1882 and six months later married a daughter of his former employer. In 1886, he moved his family to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky where he set up a practice and in 1888 ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U. S. Congress. In 1894, he was elected to office as County Judge for Montgomery County, Kentucky (the only Republican to ever hold the office).

In 1900, Judge O'Rear was elected as a Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (the Supreme Court of Kentucky at the time). In 1906, he became the Chief Justice and was re-elected in 1908 without opposition. During his service on the bench, he wrote the opinion of the Court upholding the law legalizing pari-mutual betting in Kentucky (thus allowing the continued growth of the horse industry - and the Kentucky Derby).

In Nov 1911, at the insistance of friends, Judge O'Rear resigned from the Court of Appeals to campaign for the office of Governor of Kentucky. Defeated in the campaign, he returned to private practice in Frankfort, since his home by this time was in nearby Woodford County.

Soon after, he was retained by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey to represent it in some litigation in Kentucky. During a meeting with other company attorneys in Philadelphia, they met for lunch at a prestigious club there and the topic of discussion was the alma maters of each of the attorneys. Soon Judge O'Rear was asked what university he had attended. After quick thinking, this third-grade graduate declared he had attended the "University of Camargo." All the other attorneys nodded very knowingly and commented on what a wonderful school it was. (One reiteration of the story indicates the other attorneys may have thought it was a European university - possibly in Spain).

Judge O'Rear continued his law practice which included being the Senior Counsel for the Consolidation Coal Company among other clientele. In 1940, Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" feature Judge O'Rear saying that he and his father (born in the Fort at Boonesborough, Kentucky in 1796) had lived during the terms of every U. S. President to that time. Eventually, this was to include the administration of John F. Kennedy. In June 1959, Judge was awarded the Governor's Medal for Distinguished Citizenship by Gov. A. B. "Happy" Chandler.

Well-respected by friend and opponent alike, Judge O'Rear had a striking personality. The epitome of the Kentucky Colonel (long before Harlan Sanders of Fried Chicken fame and the pattern for Sanders), Judge O'Rear has a wonderful speaking voice and loved to tell stories of his youth and younger years. Many of these stories were told on himself such as the one about his youthful mis-judgement concerning his attempt to cross the rain-swollen Licking River when he was swept down-stream and learned to respect nature.

He fathered seven children -- three boys and four girls. His daughter, Helen was noted as the wife of early U.S. Naval Aviator, Richard Saulfey (for whom Saufley Field, at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida was named). Helen was also noted as the first woman to fly over New York City and was written up in the New York Times. Very interested in the history of the O'Rear family, Judge O'Rear continued the work of Dr. Ernest Day Everett with his grandson and namesake, Edward Clay O'Rear II continuing the work.

Judge O'Rear died on 12 Sep 1961 in Woodford County, Kentucky. He was buried two days later in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky.